RSS FeedsFrom all angles: Vote '08
From humor columnists' double-takes to more serious editorial fare, here you'll find a wide-ranging collection of opinions on the 2008 elections season.
Standing up for our constitutional rights is in the best tradition of our founding fathers, not a sign of weakness.
Any candidate who wants to attract this crucial voting bloc must address racial equality.
If the Democrat wins the White House and does his job right, he just might make his predecessor look good.
A constitutional ban would also likely doom the unions already on the books.
Verbal slips by the presidential candidates and their aides can tell us a lot.
Why do left-leaning journalists eat their own?
Day-trading on elections.
Rice's new philosophy on foreign policy could have come from a Democrat, but Bush probably isn't listening.
Exploiting the Muslim- Jewish divide is the wrong way to win votes.
If you want to know who'll pick the next president, just use the formula 4M + 2M.
It's nonsense for them to use the run-up in gas prices as an excuse to advocate offshore drilling.
I've long believed that the deepest divide in American society is not the lines separating genders, races and classes but, rather, the gulf between people who have normal, easily pronounceable names and those who don't.
OPINION
The media portray him as a GOP maverick. He's really a die-hard conservative.
McCain used to champion a common-sense, values-based approach to terrorism. Now he's criticizing Obama for doing the same thing.
No matter who wins the White House, the security firm is shooting for lucrative work.
The administration simply got bad intelligence. Critics are wrong to assert deception.
As a presidential candidate, he met his day's economic concerns head-on. We could use that now.
The next president must free us from Bush's 'freedom agenda,' but that's not an excuse to disengage from the world.
Which candidate could best tackle high gas prices? Probably not the one who sang 'Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb bomb Iran.'
As Eisenhower did with Earl Warren, Obama could neutralize his Democratic rival by promising her a Supreme Court nomination.
Where's that vice presidential application form?
The sordid history conjured by the vice president's joke about inbreeding between poor white people.
Not quite. But here are their surprising policy overlaps.
She campaigned as the ultimate Washington insider just when Democrats were clamoring for an outsider.
Moving up the presidential vote to February made last week's election an also-ran and lost the state pivotal clout.
Presidential politics are sure to shake up the Bernard Parks/Mark Ridley-Thomas rematch.
The Democratic race showed how far the country has come, and how far it has to go.
Ballot initiatives have failed to protect us from eminent domain abuse. The Legislature needs to act.
In the end, she'll probably be a more significant historical figure than many presidents.
A simple majority this November could write discrimination into California's Constitution; it shouldn't be that easy.
What the candidates should focus on in five more months of campaigning.
His views on world affairs ignore history and imperil the U.S. and our allies.
Clinton's failed campaign resembled Bush's strategy on the Iraq war.
There is one candidate who's been consistently right about the war, and it isn't the Democrat.
Recommendations for candidates and initiatives in today's election.
ENDORSEMENTS 2008
Recommendations for legislative, judicial and county offices.
America's massive military budget is irrational, costly and dangerous. Why isn't it a campaign issue?
Many years separate the two candidates, but it's not a gap you can measure with an EKG.
The candidates and the propositions we've endorsed in Tuesday's election.
If there's anything that sends me into a vortex of nihilism and despair faster than getting a Shania Twain song stuck in my head, it's starting to think about "Within the Context of No-Context." The seminal essay, by George W.S. Trow, is a doomsday prophecy about the corrosive effects of electronic media. It's also turned out to be a massive understatement.
McClellan's book bashes Bush, but it's McCain who has some explaining to do.
A TAXING DILEMMA: 30 years later, it's time for a face-lift.
It's wrong to assume that it's a woman's duty to support Hillary Clinton.
ENDORSEMENTS 2008: The list of legislative candidates is long. These stood out from the crowd.
With an absurd attack on a Democratic rising star who's Catholic, the right is once again seizing on the issue.
The Times endorses in the race for the county's 2nd Supervisorial District.
DUST-UP
Republican Mike Spence says only Proposition 98 would provide real protection against eminent-domain abuse. Democrat Eric Bauman replies that Proposition 98 is more about ending rent control and serving wealthy landowners than protecting homes.
BLOWBACK
President Bush was right to call it appeasement.
Candidates who send their wives out on the campaign trail shouldn't lash out when their spouses face criticism.
As we cloister ourselves in like-minded enclaves, we're less likely to reach national consensus.
The contest between Mark Ridley-Thomas and Bernard Parks and is steeped in L.A.'s black political history.
Despite early bickering, Democrats and Republicans will rally around their candidates on election day.
Presidential aspirants are learning the hard way that given some pastors' friendships, they don't need enemies.
So-called experts are frequently certain about what they know about nuclear material -- and they're frequently wrong.
Despite the fact that he's been consistently wrong on Iraq, Americans trust his ability to handle the war more than Obama.
Critics should understand that not supporting Clinton isn't an attack on feminism.
The choice for 2nd Supervisorial District could affect voters more than the choice for the White House.
Hillary Clinton's outreach to working-class voters signals the group's declining economic security.
The purported anti-condemnation measure would actually block meaningful eminent-domain reform.
Businesses take to the ballot box to wage war on competitors. Thousand Oaks is only the latest battleground.
The presidential candidates need to be freed from the gaffe-hunting, sound-bite-obsessed media.
After weeks of being forced to consider whether Barack Obama's relationship with his ex-pastor might hurt him politically, we've lately moved to the issue of whether their connection is sufficiently poisonous that it might damage not just Obama but anyone who supports him. The North Carolina Republican Party was the agent of this particular shift, with a mischievous ad that tried to damage Obama's supporters along with the candidate himself.
McCain can embrace or push away from Bush -- but in any case, he's got an anchor, not a life preserver.
Bush, McCain and other conservatives are on the wrong side of history when they dismiss Obama's foreign policy.
When Hillary Clinton speaks of 'hardworking white Americans,' she isn't targeting the traditionally privileged kind.
Some talk down Obama's rhetorical style, but it may give him the last word.
The idea that a vote turns on one group or another is a deception of demographics.
Recent controversies have only strengthened his campaign.
The sneaky anti-rent control measure is an example of everything that's wrong with the ballot initiative process.
The Times endorses state ballot measures.
TOON-OP
Foreign cartoonists on the U.S. presidential race.
Can you get more JFK or RFK than BHO?
Hillary Clinton could use a sprinkling of Barbara Walters-style humility.
Clinton has campaigned admirably, but simple math and political realities dictate she can't win.
Sure, Clinton is free to press on. Whether that would be responsible of her is another matter.
Be it a radical minister or a gas-tax gimmick, it all offers a peek behind the posing.
ENDORSEMENTS 2008: A racial separatist running for judge could win if voters don't pay attention.
Obama's theme of transcending race to "bring together" everyone sounds better in a speech than it plays out in reality.
TOON-OP
Cartoonists on the latest controversy over Obama's ex-preacher.
Getting $6 a head -- and a cookie -- to persuade newly sworn citizens to register Republican.
Pity the poor superdelegate waiting for a clear sign on which Democrat to support.
Writing him off as twisted does nothing to promote reconciliation.
By repudiating his controversial former pastor, Obama did what had to be done.
Clinton's and McCain's plans for a summer gas-tax suspension won't solve anything.
The Times reluctantly endorses the three incumbents.
Forget the gossipy stuff. Here are10 topics we'd like to hear the presidential candidates' views on.
By now, we know who's who. So save us all the time and trouble by moving the election date to Labor Day.
Far from pandering, John McCain tells financially hard-pressed voters things they don't want to hear.
The Democratic race is beginning to erode party unity and solidify voter resentment.
The editorial board picks candidates for Los Angeles Superior Court.
We should distinguish between who candidates know and who helps shape their views.
Tonight's address should set goals and benchmarks for budgeting and anti-gang programs.
Don't let the Obama-Clinton battle fool you: It's the Republicans who are hurting the most this election year.
Are they hiding their true policies? If so, they could be buying a lot of trouble.
In public Reagan reviled them, but in private he sought to talk to our foes.
In all the tangled wreckage George W. Bush will hand off to his successor, there's nothing quite as perilously convoluted as the questions surrounding torture and the fate of the Al Qaeda terrorists currently in U.S. hands.
Discovering the autopen as a young McCain staffer.
Why is Clinton fighting so hard? Because history shows it works.
We create a hero, which only leads to our own disillusionment.
In 2008, the body politic is dealing with more than its share of issues.
The GOP presidential contender's response to the credit crisis comes up short.
Our culture's double standard on appearance puts her at a disadvantage.
Judging by the reaction to Obama's speech, you'd think Americans had never uttered a word about race.
His rhetoric entangled him in race in exactly the wrong way.
Are they constitutional? Clinton and Obama need to ask the question.
Reality about immigrants differs from perception. Let's change the narrative.
Americans treasure freedom; the party that gets serious about giving us liberty will win the future
BLOWBACK
What the candidate should have said about race.
His speech proved to be that rarity in American politics -- a serious discussion of race.
The controversy over Obama's pastor has put black anger in the spotlight.
Never before has a candidate for national office spoken so frankly about race in America.
The candidate's message of unity is suspect if he doesn't divorce himself from the controversial pastor.
Democrats and Republicans offer no choice when it comes to the economy and bringing government spending under control.
Who needs Ward Connerly when you have Geraldine Ferraro?
Talking about the bad as well as the good in campaigns helps voters make choices.
As first lady, Clinton condemned prostitution. So why did she send Eliot Spitzer and his family her 'best wishes'?
Even Obama's backers find some comfort in Clinton.
Florida and Michigan should get another crack at choosing a nominee -- if they pay their way.
Though the nominating process is complicated, we certainly know the candidates by the end of it.
Voters will have to decide if the mayor's travels to campaign for Hillary Clinton are hurting or helping the city.
We've seen the rage. She should now go gentle into the political night.
Obama and his party had better dump their discomfort with overt symbols of patriotism.
A year of elections for Angelenos.
Obama and McCain might gain some credibility even as they lose cash by accepting taxpayer money.
White voters' support for Obama suggests a dramatic change in the electorate.
Looking at the Obamas' upbringing to understand Michelle's controversial remark.
The church's history of nuanced social views frees members from litmus-test voting.
He's a successful black man, not a symbol of a post-racial America.
You know how ladies, when they don't get what they want, can go a little crazy? Am I right, fellas? Right now, they're pretty upset about losing their first chance at a female president. This would have empowered little girls, shattered sexist beliefs about female incompetence and forced men around the world to view a woman as an agent of power instead of a sex object -- all of which, it turns out, are important to women even though they buy Star magazine. Ladies are complicated.
Another 100 years of U.S. troops in Iraq?
Despite the Democratic candidates' positions, NAFTA and similar pacts benefit the U.S. in the long run.
Past governors boosted rates drastically during recessions; Schwarzenegger should do the same.
He was once a spoiler; now he's a shadow of a candidate. But does he deserve to be heard? Yes.
If exit polls are right, California's Latinos are finally flexing their political power.
When it comes to Clinton and Obama, everyone has their own wordplay.
This week's New York Times expose on Sen. John McCain's alleged relationship with a telecommunications lobbyist nearly a decade ago was a shabby piece of journalism.
It will be tough getting used to life without Hillary Clinton, a candidate so perfect that few could identify with her.
His vote against a ban on 'enhanced' interrogation methods belies his opposition to torture.
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